An electrician's caddy useful for conveyance and dispensing of wire wound on wire spools.
Electrician's must be able to draw a numerous and wide variety of wires to address the construction specifications of a given construction project. A length of each type of wire may be wound onto spools which must be transported from location to location at the construction site. Because it may be impractical to carry individual wire spools from location to location at a construction site a variety of devices have been developed to assist in the conveyance of the wire spools from location to location. Even though a there is a large commercial market for devices to assist in the conveyance of wire spools and a wide variety of devices have been developed to meet that market demand, there remain a number of significant unresolved problems with the conventional devices available to convey spools of wire from location to location at construction sites.
A significant problem with certain conventional devices which dispense wire from spools can be the lack of portability. Because a number of different spools of wire may be required at a single location and because each wire spool may be wound with several hundred feet of wire, the combined weight of the wire spools can be greater than is practical to carry from location to location. Yet many of the conventional devices which dispense wire from spools lack wheels. See for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,086,013; 6,375,115; 5,655,622; 5,634,610; 5,139,210.
As to those conventional devices which further include wheels to make conveyance of a plurality of spools more convenient once located the device does not allow the wheels to disengaged from the support surface. As such, these types of conventional devices may travel of their own accord, may travel as wire is drawn from the spools, or fail to provide adequate resistance to allow wire to be properly drawn from the spools. See for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,687,928; 6,523,776; 6,422,504; and 4,585,130.
Another significant problem with certain conventional devices which dispense wire from spools can be the lack of means to prevent the wire from traveling outside of the spool ends as the wire is drawn from the spool. The rate at which wire is drawn from the wire spool can vary and because the wire spool may not immediately compensate for the varied rate sufficient slack can be generated in the wire being drawn to allow the wire to travel over the spool ends. The wire may subsequently become entangled with other wires being drawn, with other wire spools, or the device dispensing the wire. See for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,086,013; 6,375,115; 5,634,610; 5,655,622; 4,585,130; 6,422,504; 6,523,776; and 5,687,928.
Entanglement of the wire may result in damage to the wire. For example, an electrical conductor may have a recommended minimum bending radius. The minimum bend radius is the radius of curvature that a flat or round wire, metallic cable, or optical fiber can bend without any adverse effects. A bend radius value is usually expressed as a whole number multiple of the conductor, cable, or fiber's overall diameter. As a non-limiting example, the Insulated Cable Engineers Association recommends a minimum bending radius of eight (8) times the overall diameter of single or multiple conductor cables. Therefore, if the diameter of a single conductor cable is 0.25 inch the minimum bending radius of the cable would be 2.00 inches. In this regard, once the wire travels outside the spool ends, engagement with other wires, wire spools, or the dispensing device can form a radius at the less than the minimum bending radius recommended for the wire. Similarly, once a wire becomes entangled the level of resistance to drawing the wire may increase and correspondingly amount of pulling tension may be applied. Under these circumstances, the maximum pulling tension of the wire may be inadvertently exceeded with consequent damage to the electrical conductor. Even in those circumstances in which the minimum bending radius or the maximum pulling tension is not exceeded, engagement of the wire can damage the surrounding insulation. Damage to the insulator may subsequently result in arcing of electrical conductors or interfere with the transmission properties of the cable or fiber.
A related problem with certain conventional devices which dispense wire from spools may be the lack of a guide to direct the wire as it is drawn from the wire spool. As such, the wire can be drawn outside the spool ends or drawn in contact with the spool ends which allows entanglement of the wire as described above or increased frictional engagement of the wire with the spool ends.
Another significant problem with certain conventional devices which dispense wire from spools can be the lack of means to cover the wire for protection. As to all the references above-cited each lacks any component to cover the wire on the wire spools both during periods of storage or during periods of use. As such the wire wound on the spools may be subject to contact damage.
Another significant problem with certain conventional devices which dispense wire from spools can be the lack of means to hold tools and other articles useful to the person using the device. This necessitates the inconvenience of obtaining, transporting and using separate devices to hold tools and other articles. As to U.S. Pat. No. 6,375,115 which attempts to address this concern, no means are provided to provide releasable closures for the compartments to retain the tools and other articles in the device.
Another significant problem with certain conventional devices which dispense wire from spools may be the lack of a rod or axle about which the wire spool rotates. See for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,634,610 which allows the spool ends to engage the surface of the wire dispenser. Contact with the surfaces of the wire dispenser can generate frictional resistance to drawing the wire from the spool which may be excessive when several wires are simultaneously drawn. As to those conventional devices which have attempted to address this problem by providing a rod or axle about which the wire spool rotates, the rod or axle about which the wire spool rotates locate the axle or rod ends in a manner open to engagement by persons or articles. See for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,375,115 and 6,422,504.
The electrician's caddy invention described below addresses each of these problems of conventional wire dispensing devices.